Molo's Sketchbook

Onn/Off art festival

2012-01-29T14:11:00.000-08:00

Seattle needs more of this kind of thing.

The Onn/Off art festival, happening this weekend (through 7pm today, you can still go!) has been a fantastic success. I'm very impressed with Jim Demetre, Sierra Stinson and Susan Robb who worked hard to create this massive warehouse show and put together such a fantastic event. Their aim, for this light-based art show, was to:

" create an environment that not only lets people escape the cold and solitude that comes with Seattle’s winter season but to build a warm and energizing experience that might produce enough radiance to help see Seattle through the rest of the winter."

They did that and then some. There was something wonderful about going to an art opening of local emerging and established artists, full of life and innovation, with workshops and performances in addition to the art pieces, in such a large, space. Really, it's that large space that makes all the difference.

Most non-museum art openings in this town are in small galleries, where we are often elbow to elbow, spending energy to avoid bumping as opposed to being able to actually view work. Sure you can come back and see the shows when its not the reception, but 90% of your audience will come during those opening/closing events. A huge warehouse show like this allows for the party (and a party it was - with a beer garden and an amazing, fun performance by the delightful Bran Flakes) and for folks to actually see the work.

There are a lot of empty warehouses in this city. With all the great enterprising curators and artists in this town, we have the opportunity to create many more events like this.

Here's some pics from the events. I didn't get all the info on the art/artists this time, so just enjoy the images:

(also, I haven't really mastered my low light shooting ability with this camera...oh well)

Molo at the Movies - Haywire

2012-01-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

2012 is starting out with a stylish action thriller from Steven Soderbergh, no less, staring ex-American Gladiator Gina Carano as a bad-ass ex-marine turned merc...think Bourne/Bond/Transporter/Seagal/and any number of such things. Yes, we have been down this road before. But not with Soderbergh at the helm, and not with this cast. Michael Douglas, Ewan McGreggor, Michael Fassbender, and even Antonio Bandares - who can really grow a handsome grey beard these days - distinguished. Hell, between his grey beard, and Clooney's grey beard, I'm thinking there should be a bearded movie with all these aging gents...beard erotica....but I digress...

This film, is about Gina Carano beating the shit out of a lot of people, including Channing Tatum, who is suddenly showing up in every other flick (prepping for a career as the new big action star? I think so...then again, 21 Jump Street is his next thing....), but doing it in as about a realistic manner as you can imagine from such things. There's a very Soderbergh moment when her dad witnesses her dispatching a bad guy, when you see his face processing who his daughter has really become, that is precious. As my friend Trevor said, there's none of that Bourne bullshit in this - the films is a gritty, and it feels real. Sorry, not million dollar explosions here.

Haywire - 3.5 Molos

Uprising - Rick Araluce and Steve Peters at Suyama Space

2012-01-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

I braved the mushy mess on the streets tonight and headed to Belltown to catch the opening for Uprising at Suyama Space. I've been keeping tabs on Rick Araluce ever since I became familiar with his amazing little dioramas. Rick has an amazing ability to create realistic rooms in the smallest scale, but it was never the simple technical skill of his works that attracted it to me, it was the stories he would tell with these little scenes. He crates drama in small spaces. However, Suyama Space is not small, not in the least - so like many at the lively opening, I wanted to see what he would do with it - Rick told me he had never worked large like this before, not on a strictly art based project (he has worked in set design professionally). In any case, he and Steve Peters came up with this trompe l'oeil idea of creating a network of pipes coming out of the floor, walls, ceiling, with the occasional open end harboring some mysterious sounds. Steve did all the sound work himself. Rick the fantastic job with making pvc pipes and who knows what other materials, look like iron works 100 years old. Truly a visual delight.

Here's some photos from the evening - remember, there is no metal - these are all plastic pipes, painted by Rick.

The Art of Snow, or Art in the Snow

2012-01-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

Just some picks of my outdoor sculptures enjoying the elements, and a few other First Hill snow shots.

anyone for a swim? Jan 15

Sunday January 15th

The shots below are from the would-be Snowapocalypse day, today, January 18th

The Frye Art Museum

Safety first!

MOLORAZZI - Sharon Arnold in Georgetown and Vignettes

2012-01-15T15:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a few photos from Sharon Arnold's show at the Firm, in Georgetown, Mapping an Irretrievable Field of Memory and Sean McElroy's We are Happy to Serve You, at Vignettes

I was going to head to Season today, for You've Got A Smile Left in your Hand but Seattle shuts down when it snows...so I'll have to catch it soon!

Jim Demetre and Trevor Johnson at The Firm

L - R Artists Brain Cypher, Sharon Arnold, Amanda Manitach, Trevor Johnson,
Colleen, and Steve Sewell at The Firm
(sry for the RED EYE - but it wouldn't be Molorazzi if it weren't awkward)

It's difficult to represent the amount of layered rectangles in this piece.

Headed over to the old old Rainer Brewery to see some of the artist studios and say this happy picture...

Sometimes it's more fun exploring these old building more so than looking at the work in the studios...

Part of Sean McElroy's installation at Vignettes

the crowd at Vignettes

McElroy

Top 10: Best Music of 2011

2012-01-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

Normally, I make a big deal about compiling my year-end list but frankly this year I just haven't been keeping up on music at all. [so who is this Adele person people keep speaking of?] I think when one is going through some health issues, in general just feeling lousy, one tends to listen to comfort music. At least that's how I felt most of this year. It can take a bit of effort to get into new stuff, so I would choose things that have been staples for me for years, and on the mellower side.

But the last few months I have been catching up more and more with the albums I missed, and the albums I bought, but didn't listen to much, and 2011 was an excellent year for music. I wouldn't say there's one album that just blew away the rest, but more like there were a lot of strong releases by band I enjoy, as well as some good new stuff too. So here's a brief, dirty list of my favorite albums of 2011. Likely I'll feel very different about this list in 6 months.

You know what? I'm going to have to invoke "in no particular order" for a change. Here's my favorite 10 albums I have been exposed to that were released in 2011:

In no particular order:

Shabazz Palaces - Black Up Great follow up to the 2 stellar EPs released the year before. Particular tracks #7 and #10, which both have absurd titles, but are 2 of the best songs from 2011. Songs on this album end abruptly and come at you from the side, it's not a traditional hip-hop approach, it's not a traditional approach of any kind. Shabazz keeps things interesting, and the music is sincere but still, quite playful.

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming M83's best album since Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts. A very fun sonic exploration. Still keeping with that slightly 80s feel of the last couple releases - but with a more focused, direct approach here. It's really good, and the song with the kid talking about turning into the frog warms my heart.

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues Better than their much heralded debut. These songs are more mature, and seem to have more oomph - I think Pecknold is starting to write more personal songs, and that helps keep the music more rooted in real emotion, not just in pretty harmonies, but there's plenty of that too. I particularly liked the track Lorelia.

And You Will Know Us By the Trail of The Dead - Tao of the Dead Hard rock lives on! You won't find this album on a lot of lists, probably because AYWKUBTTOTD has gone out of fashion, but this is their best effort since Sources, Tags, and Codes so many years ago. It's a return to the driving energetic, dramatic sound that they are so good at. And always an amazing live show.

Kayne West + Jay Z - Watch the Throne I didn't have much hope for this album, but damn, it's really good. Kayne has kept a lot of the attitude from My Dark Twisted Fantasy going with his collaboration with Jay Z, and some of Jay brought some of that signature toughness. It's fun and audacious and filled with good beats; essential album for any hip hop/rap fan.

Astronautalis - This is Our Science The most mature, cohesive, strong release yet by rapper Andy Bothwell. Its a really great release and I'm not just saying that cause we are friends. I'm a big fan of sincerity in music...maybe because songwriting can be so cliched and trite - the very nature of the verse-chorus-verse tends to make language simplified and generic...so when artists are able to get across sincerity, while still making great music that you can get into, it's especially good. Andy's record is like that, and so much more

Cults - Cults My favorite of the pop indie candy rock records of late. It's high energy and good rock. The first half is especially addictive...but I can't listen to it too much.

The Drums - Portamento The Drums sophomore effort finds them building on the unmistakeable sound of their first release - the kind of brit pop 80s candy sound that was very refreshing to these ears. It's back, but much more developed this time around. These kids are from Brooklyn, and not from 1984 folks.

Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo I'm always a bit wary when being introduced to a new singer-songwriter type that I'm not familiar with. I'm not sure what it is...maybe because if I don't like the message of the songs, the lyrics, it's all over for me...but usually it's the voice. If you can't get into the voice of a singer-songwriter type of musician it's all over. With bands, well the music can be so much more important than the voice....it depends I suppose. Okay, I'm rambling here...point is I was wary, but once I heard this latest by Vile I was sold on his voice, his humor, and his guitar. Good stuff. Mellow but not too mellow.

Wild Flag - Wild Flag Great album by 2/3 of Sleater-Kinney. Carrie Brownstein really knows how to rock when she isn't cracking wise on Portlandia. Good stuff.

Honorable Mentions: The Horrors, Atlas Sound, The Rosebuds, The Roots, Tune-Yards, Dum Dum Girls, Childish Gambino, We Were Promised Jet Packs

Any who, that's that. Let me know what your favorites were! I'm always looking for new good music.

Molo at the Movies: The Woodmans (documentary)

2011-12-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

Last night I stumbled upon a very interesting documentary on PBS about a family of artists, The Woodmans, (2010).

I new nothing about Betty (ceramicist, painter), George (painter) or their children Charlie (multi-media/electronic) and Francesca (renowned photographer) or their story, and this documentary was immediately enthralling. The story plays out in a very straight-forward timeline, telling how Betty and George, both serious artists, met and fell in love, and how they started a family. It moves to the unique ways in which they raised their children while maintaining their artistic practices and as the story goes along, I realized very quickly that this was not going to be a happy tale - there were no interviews with the daughter, Francesca, but instead we heard excerpts from her diary.

It turns out, which is shown in the film, that Francesca is a very well known, legendary figure in modern photography. She too some fantastic images in the 70s, highly influential work that even I can see had a monumental impact on the photography world. She was only 22 when she died, a struggling artists trying to get attention for her work. Dealing with severe depression. It wasn't until after her death that her legend began to grow. A very Van Gogh-esq tale. The tragic misunderstood and ignored artist. Sounds cliched, but this film makes it anything but.

The film, in many ways, is her story, but it's also the story of her parents Betty and George, and their son Charlie, who all have struggled for attention for their own work, and have been out-shined by the posthumous fame of Francesca. This is fascinating. They support and promote her work as a way of keeping her alive, while at the same time working so hard on their own careers and having to deal with the jealousy of being overshadowed by their deceased daughter. Then there's the grief, and the guilt and the interesting ways in which this family has dealt with her death and with questions of why she became so depressed.

George says at one point something that there is an inherent psychological risk in the life of an artist

I'm not explaining this film very well - I wanted to give some insight into why I was so interested in it, w/out flat out telling you every little thing about it, but I believe I have failed. If you have any interest in the arts and in family dynamics, then you will enjoy this film. It's not all gloom and depression either, there are many happy, joyful moments.

The Woodmans trailer

4 Molos - nothing remarkable about the film making itself, but the story is told very well.

Here some images of art by Francesca and her parents:

work by Betty Woodman (the mother)

a painting by George Woodman (the father)

Below: a few photos by Francesca Woodman - she took many great images and her style

has been borrowed extensively in the years following her death.

My last oil painting ever (?)

2011-12-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

This may well be the last oil painting I ever do:

Epilogue, oil on panel, 30 x 40, 2011

I'm not giving up painting. But I am giving up oils, for a while at least. The reason is that it is entirely possible that my body has been negatively reacting to the solvents and off gassing that comes along with oils. Possibly this has been part of the health problems I've been battling this year. Perhaps after years of painting with oils, in studios, at home; hell I even painted in a 6 x 10 foot unfinished pantry room with one door for a while, my body was just like...no more, no mas!

Fortunately there are a lot of other options out there, I'm experimenting with water soluble oils, and delving into the dreaded land of acrylics, damn the purists! This may well also be an opportunity to break out of old habits and styles. Not to mention work more on my sculpture and installation ideas. Hell I might even try gouache!

So as a last hurrah of sorts, I made the work above. Definitely in the style of my Place series. No plans to exhibit it yet, but I wanted to share it with you all.

Molorazzi: Reception for the Matryoshka show

2011-12-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, most of these pics are going to be of the art, not of people, so it's not exactly a proper Molorazzi post, sorry fans, but still, check it out!

The show was excellent, a very great crowd and tons of great work. All of the artists did incredible pieces for this show, these Russian nesting dolls look fantastic! Big thanks to Michael Alm for asking me to participate, and to Laurie Kearney for offering Ghost Gallery as the venue! Good job guys!

Here's my piece(s) for the show, I called them "The Abstract Lithuanian" (my grandfather was Lithuanian)

Allyce Wood and Joey Bates shared a shelf, lovely pieces!

Curator Michael Alm on Q13 FOX NEWS (say it loud) - photo of TV by Zoe Williams

Laurie Kearney

Mary Elise Bolam

awkward shots of artists in the show (there's Michael, Chris Crites, Jess Rees, Troy Gua, Allyce, Joey + more)

Zoe Williams (these are intricately carved!)

Kendel Tull-Esterbrook and Jess Rees (click to enlarge photos)

Michael Alm and Cait Willis

Kelly Lyles and Rich Lehl

Chris Crites and Jody Joldersma

Troy Gua did a lovely photo series with his dolls, much better in person than this lame shot

I failed to take my own photos of these next two great pieces, but check them out:

Jessica McCourt (photo from Ghost Gallery website) and Stacey Roszch (photo courtesy of the artist)

Brian and Ghost Gallery owner/artist Laurie Kearney

Me, making angry face with tired eyes, and Jess Rees

Bears bears and occasionally rabbits: The art of Luke Chueh

2011-12-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

Normally I get really tired of illustrative art - the whole Juxtipoz, Giant Robot, High Fructose type of thing. There are certainly tons of brilliant, talented artists working in an illustrative manner, creating fun, beautiful, and impressive images, but most often, they are just that: fun, beautiful, and impressive. Occasionally an artist will manage to rise above that whole scene and stand out by inflecting something more into the work...something greater.

One such artist is Luke Chueh. Sure sure, it's basically just that his bears and rabbits are essentially the illustrated version of teenage angst. The lonely soul, sad and misunderstood, and very dark at times. But he manages to actually make these characters have believable emotions, which is extremely hard to do in illustration. I actually feel sorry for those bears! I buy it. Nicely done sir.

Or maybe I'm still just on a bear kick.

In any case, a few of my favs are below, and here's a link to his website. www.lukecheuh.com

One benefit of working in an illustrative style, like Luke has, you can make your ideas into so many products- prints, pillows, figurines, etc etc. Sadly I don't foresee any Molenkamp pillows coming out anytime soon.

This might also be why I'm broke.

Just fantastic!

Kind of knocking his own work with this one, well played Luke, well played

Sad dj bear, he tore his record!

all images borrowed from various sources on the interwebs

2012 Art Walk Calendars are out

2011-11-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

The good folks at Print Zero (Brian Lane and Jess Rees) have created another limited run of artist-created Art Walk calendars for 2012. I was happy to give them an image this year - here's the result:

These hand-printed, beautiful calendars can purchased online for only $10 plus shipping (pre-order right now); and they will be available in select locations like Ghost Gallery, very soon! Contact the folks at Print Zero for details

The other artists asked to participate are Troy Gua, Joey Bates, Allyce Wood, Kelda Martensoen, Robert Hardgrave, Todd Lown, Dennis Raines, Jess Rees, and Kim Van Someren - a stellar group for sure! Here's some more of the calendars:

Allyce Wood

Joey Bates

Troy Gua

Jess Rees

Tree of Life (Dinosaurs?!)

2011-11-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

I finally saw Terrance Malick's latest epic, Tree of Life, last night. Malick has an amazing knack for taking subject matter of the most heavy nature (loss, God, regret, the meaning of it all), and through sheer beauty and sensitivity to the medium, turning it into poetry. If I were to read any of his scripts, I would probably consider them to be sentimental, heavy-handed drivel. I mean his movies are about longing gazes, "who/what am I:" voice-overs, and indulgent shots of nature. BUT dammit, he gets it just right - they work despite their audaciousness. Tree of Life is no exception. It's a gorgeous story centered around one family under the rule of an overbearing father (Brad Pitt), a grace-of-God mother (the stunning Bryce Dallas-Howard), and 3 sons, the eldest of whom is played as an adult in some scenes by Sean Penn. But primarily it's about the eldest son at about 13/14 or so, how he makes his way in the world ruled over by Father. I don't need to get into it all, but you can imagine how the drama might unfold. Under Malick's hand, though, simplicity and subtly tell us this story of loss, regret and love. Sound trite? Sure. But Malick's magic is that he makes it magical.

It's the composed shots, the cinematography - the pacing, the editing that create the magic. Malick worked on this with movie with Emmanuel Lubezki, who is known for one of the best-shot movies of the last decade, Children of Men and the two of them pull off some of the most gorgeous images I have ever seen on the screen. Even a simple shot of the interior of a modern office building, a low-angle perspective, is filmed so well. I could gush about the filming for pages...

But first, to the biggest surprise in the film: Dinosaurs!

There's dinosaurs in this film! That came out of nowhere. Well not nowhere if you had read any reviews of the film when it was in theaters, but I shied away from the reviews this time. Needless to say I was quite surprised by the dinosaurs. They come near the beginning of the film, in what has to be the most beautiful, tender film sequence ever made that describs the creation of the universe, and the Earth -and the life on it. It's like basic science: big bang and evolution, complete with gorgeous shots of nebulas and even the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. It's a film within a film, and lovely to behold. I've never seen dinosaurs depicted with humanity before. (unless you count that puppet show: Dinosaurs) The movie is worth a look just for that 20 minutes.

This is something like Malick's 5th movie in 30 years. The guy does not play around. Except a little bit with the dinosaurs.

Tree of Life: 4.5 Molos

Best Movie of the Year (so far)

2011-11-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Drive is the best movie I have seen this year. The director, Nicholas Winding Refn, takes a script and idea that could have easily been turned into any number recent "case" movies but keeps the film grounded in cool. A coolness that the fantastic cast, especially Mr. Ryan Gosling (best hollywood actor of his generation?). Gosling's character starts out very much Bullit and ends up more Taxi Driver, but its such a subtle shift, done so quietly that you can't imagine it happening any other way.

The movie has the style meter turned way up, but the sharp script and perfect pacing make it oh so real, and oh so much more pleasurable. The rest of the supporting cast is great as well. Carey Mulligan (one of my actress crushes) is fantastic again and Albert Brooks has a juicy, career-revival, role. And my word, I have to applaud Refn for managing to actually tame down the beast of Ron Perlmann and making a sincere character out of what could have easily turned into a cartoon. Plus the soundtrack is fantastic. We've seen this kind of story before, but rarely have we seen it done with such freshness and a restrained hand - the violence does come but manages to be both over the top and realistic at once. The film needs a violent release, and it provides. 4.5 Molos

On being filmed for Art Zone with Nancy Guppy

2011-11-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I saw video of myself - it was when some of my art school friends were messing around with a camera in the studio, and they taped me painting and asking questions. Watching the footage later really weirded me out. I don't think to that point I really knew what I sounded and looked like to other people, and it was disturbing. Basically, there's a disconnect between how I would like to appear to other people, and how I actually appear to others.

Granted, I was in my early 20s, and just really figuring out myself and what the hell I was going to do with my life (art). Still, I've never felt comfortable being the center of attention, and being filmed, well that's not only the center of attention but also a permanent record of awkwardness.

You'd think, that being near 35 now, and having grown up somewhat, done a few interviews, been taped a few times, that I would finally be okay with this sort of thing and not mind watching myself on film. But today; I saw the episode of Art Zone with Nancy Guppy that we taped last week, and there I am talking to the camera, and I can't watch it. Not at all. It still weirds me out.

But y'all can take a look: http://www.seattlechannel.org/artZone/videos.asp?program=3351130

I am grateful for the press and it was a pleasure working on the piece, but who is that guy?

Here's a few images of the pieces that are going to be in the SAM Gallery show on November 10th (reception 5-7pm)

Sluicing Down Beacon Hill

The Denny Regrade 2

The Diners

Crunk Reflect Raked

2011-10-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

Last week at Studio Group I asked the group to help name my new series of abstract paintings. I've never enjoyed naming my more abstract works, I have a tendency to want them all to be untitled, but at the same time, it is nice to give them a name, even if it's an arbitrary name. So we ended up doing an exercise where we all wrote down some words on scraps of paper and put them in a bowl, and then we randomly selected from the bowl, 3 words, that would in turn become a title.

It was quite a fun, absurd way to come up with titles for these paintings, and the first thing we learned was that 3-word titles can be too silly, but there were some great 2-word titles that could be pulled out of the longer titles.

Here's all the titles that we came up with:

Chop Teeth Exhaust
Crunk Reflect Raked
Lute Shaped Changing
Mammoth Word Facet
Limited Kamp Iron
Removed Location Comely
Storm Strands Bone
_______ Sleeve Beleager
Ridge Explorer Extracted
Seductive Dimensional Wish
Drawn Above Believe
Striation Cluster Carved
Japan Achromatic Ambiguous
Sediment Corduroy Cushion
Floating Vein Wrinkle
Bonded Amalgam Spider
Pupil Cyclical Glass
Potato Field Scraped
Temple Spaghetti Crater
Beard Formed Agile
Moving Bunched Let
Winter Sound Set
Aspen Sunbeard Land
Spire Tithe Being
Vestibule Erect High&Low
Galaxy Staff Hapless
Tomato

There are some winners in this list for sure, and we pulled some nice shorter titles out too, like, "Storm Strands", "Floating Vein", "Sediment Cushion", "Field Scraped", "Dimensional Wish", and "Mammoth Word"

So for this next series of abstract paintings, I'm going to pull all my titles from that list!

Let's start with this work, which I'll call...."Sediment Cushion"

Thanks Studio Group!

SOIL Art Auction: Hoedown this Friday

2011-10-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

I donated one of my pieces from the Bumber by Number's show for the SOIL art auction/party/fundraiser which is happening this Friday at the Seattle Design Center 6-10 pm. SOIL is my favorite local art collective, they have been at the heart of the Seattle art scene for years and they deserve our support. Plus, they throw a hell of a party! Check their website for details. www.soilart.org.

.Hope to see ya Friday!

TBA (Time Based Art) festival in Portland

2011-09-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

My friend and I swung by The Works for PICA's TBA festival in Portland on Saturday primarily to check out this ridiculous children's art show called Whoop Dee Doo, (which defies description, but I'll never forget the smell of that room) and to see everything else happening at that location with the festival. They had a ton of installations, video and performance, both happening and evidence of things that had or would be happening, this is "time based art" after all.

When people say Portland has a great art scene, it's things like the TBA festival, or the Portland Biennial that Disjecta puts on that they are talking about, I think, more so than the gallery/museum scene.

Any who, I have a headache here, as I write this, so I'm going to zone out and watch football (yes I know, an artist who likes football too?) but here's some picks from some of the installations, and sorry I don't have a heck of a lot of info on the individual artists (titles, names, etc) but it was a really interesting show - today is the last day for the festival this year, but it's in its 9th year, so if you are into the arts I highly suggest checking it out next year!

Jesse Sugarman's video of inflating air mattresses lifting mini-vans, rather comically. Jesse also shows

at Season Gallery in Seattle

This piece is called Collateral Damage by Joshua Berger. It's an ongoing performance - he apparently did one or part of a page at the beginning of the festival and had done 46 pages so far. It's made up of tiny tiny "x"s, each on represents a dead civilian from the Iraq war and the total dead are over 300,000, tallied by him so far, of the 655,000 reported in the NY Times in 2006. So he has a lot more marks to make. Needless-to-say, it wasn't all light fun and games at TBA this year.

installation in the bathroom

file it under optical illusion

photo cred to LH

The US on the wall is made of green tipped matchsticks...for some reason this room was closed

probably they didn't want us to go in there and light it.

well now what happened here?

oh that happened, 4 women tearing into this clay mound with vigor

some of the clay ended up on top of the light fixture...

bye bye

NEPO 5K Walk don't run

2011-09-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Molorazzi did a 5K today. Okay okay, truthfully I did drive part of the way, but still, I feel like I accomplished something, checking out this AMAZING EVENT put on by NEPO House. The work that the organizers put into planning and funding this even and the work that all the artists did, should be applauded! It's rare that such a fun, engaging, and community based art even ever takes place in Seattle and I am amazed at how well it was pulled off.

Hats off to team NEPO: Klara Glosova, Bond Huberman, Amanda Manitach, Leanne Grimes, Rumi Kushino, Todd Jannausch, Erin Shafkind, Susanna Bluhm Callahan, and Seth Damm, and all the other people who pulled it together.

If you missed it, here's a sampling of images from the day, more-or-less in order of the events!

Vis-a-Vis Society signing folks in

Start

Artists Cable Griffith and Curtis Erlinger represent NEPO

Free swag at SOIL

string art by Ollie Glatzer

work by Eric Olsen

Shawn Patrick Landis

white-out blizzard navigation training performance art

Susanna Bluhm and Chris Buening's colored rice installation being used as a slide

Semaphore translation

Amy-Ellen Flatchestedmama Trefsger performing

Kate Clark's Backbending Bench

Erin Shafkind's Mini Mad Homes

5K'ers checking out the installation by Ryan Worsley and Laura Dean

Some of the art crew knitting with Mandy Greer

Sarah Galvin reading poetry, the "home owner" was not having it

Amanda Manitach's Free TV (animation does not show up well in pics)

Saya Moriyasu and Jeff McGrath's Babbit

Mike Pham, on a car

Zack Bent

Finish!

Lots of art on display in NEPO house itself, and the neighborhood was essentially turned into a block-art party complete with music, beer garden , free tacos, art installations in the street and all over. It was a great time, I couldn't really soak it all in, and fled to the solitary confines of Molo's fortress of solitude for respite, but what a fantastic event!

Troy Gua's Colorbandz

I still love Klara's kitty sculpture

Ginger bear?

Bumbershoot 2011 - Music

2011-09-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Astronautalis played a great set with a full band on the fountain lawn stage

Shabazz Palaces sounded way better than they did at the block party last year, I'm sure this had everything

to do with acoustics and the set-up.

Vetiver was lovely, but started to lull me to sleep...

Bumbershoot 2011 - Visual Arts

2011-09-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Scott Trimble's impossible-to-skate skate park

Bumber by Number:

Curators Marlow and Jo David

The Magic Show:

Jason Puccinelli

poster designer/illustrator Jon Horn at flatstock

September Art Walk - a brief glimpse

2011-09-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Paintings by Chris Sheridan and Kate Protage, and sculpture by John Belli at 619 Western's final artwalk (outdoor version)

Etsuko Ichikawa at Davidson Gallery, a very handsome show.

Bond H, Cable Griffith + Susanna Bluhm at Cable and Susanna's show Islands at SOIL.

Cable Griffith

Susanna Bluhm

Prole Drift gallery

Dirk Park of Prole Drift at the opening reception

Patterns and Patterns at Season gallery

2011-08-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

Peter Scherrer Orange Owl

I headed up to Season gallery last weekend to check out the summer exhibition I was Talking with a Ghost, with works by Peter Scherrer and Rachel Kaye. I was really taken into Peter Scherrer's Orange Owl, a nice large painting that reminded me a bit of Daniel Richter's works, but maybe that's a stretch. Paul's works seem to have more to do with mark making, than the subject, and the white on the dark backgrounds only heightens this. The marks form patterns, creating the subject almost as if by default...it seems like these marks have to be something, these patterns should form meaning...so they become trees, creatures, woodland scenes.

Rachel Kaye's work is also filled with patterns, although these are formed by a light but still dense use of colored pencil. Her subjects seem more prominent, but at the same time, quite elusive in their patterned environments. There is something compelling about them, but I couldn't quite get into the girls in these pictures, inhabiting these patterned places. Perhaps that's why I was most drawn to the faceless girl in Untitled 4.

Rachel Kaye's Untitled 3, Untitled 4, and Missoni IV

all images courtesy of Season gallery

Molo at the Movies: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011-08-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

Is there much value in blogging about movies that have been out for a couple weeks? Probably not, but hey, it says "film" right up there with "art" and "music" in my header and so here's a review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

I must point out the effects team did a heck of a job at creating believable sideways glances from the star digital ape, Caesar.

Caesar is a master of the evil eye and the knowing look. I don't think I've ever seen a digital character pull off such things before. Well done. Props. They also did a good job of animating John Lithgow. Oh Snap! His performance was a bit reminiscent of Peter O'toole's turn in Thomas Kincade's The Christmas Cottage. Legendary, for all the wrong reasons. Okay Lithgow doesn't deserve that, he did a fine job.

Aside from a few hokey moments the script was very well done and clever -the story takes a bit to really get rolling, but it's a good build up, and the scenes with Caesar learning and matching wits against Draco Malfroy (I'm sure the actor has a real name, right?) in the shelter are quite fun. Plus, who doesn't love a Gorilla and a wise Orangutan kicking ass? We know all know the apes are going to rise up; it's in the telling that you have any story at all, and this movie does a good job. Best of the summer movies I have seen.

4 Molos

I might use this drawing for my Fantasy Football Team Logo

2011-08-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

Mad Home Away from Home Install

2011-08-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to Akiko and Breanna for their help installing this piece, Exude, on Sunday! The show opens Tuesday Aug 2nd, from 4-7pm, and will be on display through this Saturday, the 6th, only!

At The Jacob Lawrence Gallery in the Art Building at the University of Washington.

I'm very excited with how the piece came up, I know that UW is hard to get to, and it's only a short-lived show, but this is a big step for me while developing these sculptures...

Troy Gua's work on the right

One of Luke Hayne's quilts

Allyce Wood installing her work

Amanda Manitach's work on the right

Follow up to the last post

2011-08-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

My review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

2011-07-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

Really, I just wanted to post a photo of the creepy as hell, bloody Lord Voldemort soul-baby thing that Potter sees when he is in his own head talking to Dumbledore, but I couldn't find any photos online.

Oh well, sorry.

HP7pt2 = 3 Molos (it all kind of just left me feeling "meh")

MadArt Homes Pre-reception Reception

2011-07-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Last night was the pre-party reception, the small affair, for the MadArts show and I would love to congratulate all the artists for putting on a spectacular, fun, engaging show! Hats off to Alison Milliman, Brian Ohno, Ariel, Jessica, Rodrigo, Charity +everyone else and the slew of volunteers for producing a fantastic show and a great party! Wonderful spread!

Here's a few shots from the evening, and remember, everyone is invited on Saturday from 4-7 for the public opening! Details here: Mad Homes

above, artists Meg Hartwig and Laura Ward by their respective pieces!

below, me with Jason Puccinelli/Elizabeth Potter's lady:

SBC:

Things may have gotten a bit feral towards the end of the evening...

Allan Packer's installation is fantastic - and must be seen in person to appreciate:

Amanda Manitach text/slide projector piece + a fuzzy pic of Troy Gua's house:

MadArt Homes Install: Sneak peek at some of the other works

2011-07-10T21:59:00.000-07:00

Please keep in mind, all these works are still very much in progress! Come see the show - July 16th, 4-7pm and July 17-Aug 7th, 12-7pm daily. Details online here. 715-725 Bellevue Ave East.

Luke Haynes:

Allyce Wood:

Troy Gua (inside view of porch):

Laura Ward in Planning mode (Meg Hartwig's work in progress in the tree on the right):

SuttonBeresCuller:

Jason Puccinelli working on the piece he is making with Elizabeth Potter:

And then we have this:

I'm also very excited to see Allen Packard's creation and what Julia Haack and Amanda Manitach are up to ...not to mention watching all the other complex impressive installations come together, this show kicks ass!

MadArt Homes Install : Final Weekend

2011-07-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm finally done! (probably) All it took was two more 9+ hour days and a lot more help from my friends! Thanks again to all my friends who helped out with the install - Jess, Sean, Brian, Rebecca, Emily, Lisa, Kara, Ian, and especially Laura!

Here's some more shots - and don't forget to actually come by and see the work in person! The photos do not do it justice...(that's what artists are always supposed to say)

MadArt Homes Install Day 3

2011-07-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

Only had a few hours to work this evening, and my back has been a friggin' nightmare, but I got some stuff done, and took some arty shots of the art!

I'm really excited about the shadows at sunset, and about how the porch piece frames the city and landscape. It's doing excellent things.

Thanks again to Laura for a bit of help, every bit goes a LONG way!

MadArt Homes Install: Day 2

2011-07-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

Got a lot more done on the wall piece today, thanks to the help of Sean Clemmons, Kara Weaver, Ian Schooley, and Becca. SO GRATEFUL!

I was even able to get started on the porch piece while my friends slaved away at the cut paper project.

MadArt Homes, Install Day 1

2011-07-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

HUGE THANKS to Sean Clemmons, Jess Rees, and Laura Dean for invaluable assistance today! There is no way I can get this project done w/out the help of my generous friends.

Here are a few shots from the installation, day 1, of the MadArt Homes project. Sean and I painted the walls grey, then Jess, Laura and I tackled the big drawing, the hardest part being cutting out all the shapes with exact-o knifes! Pain in the ass, but great progress was made.

I'm exhausted, but looking forward to more work.

I managed to install one of the sculptures on top of the drawing towards the end of the day - it looks very insane. Violent, actually. I'm happy with that and can't wait to install the rest.

JUNE 2011 - FIRST THURSDAY - MOLORAZZI IS BACK!

2011-06-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

Back with more awkward pics of art that caught my eye and some people who were foolish enough not to avoid me.

Elizabeth Perkins at SOIL. (above and below) I really dug the catcher's gear.

Julia Freeman with a huge, dynamic installation at Gallery4Culture. Fantastic, creepy domesticity (as my friend Jameson mentioned)

A great deal of sound came from inside those bricks, the floor vibrated in front of it!

Jesse Higman and friends Lauren and Matthew

Scott Fife's severed panda with purple eyes, what can you say?

NEPO House supporters Bond (above) and Susanna (below) and another fella sell baked goods to fund raise for the NEPO House 5K race (walk don't run!)

Yarnbomb

Darin Denison (these are not actual crystals, they are hand cut glass) at Lawrimore Project

Courtney Branam

Sam McMillen at Lawrimore

Artists Brian Lane and Todd Jannausch (creator of Gallery 206)

Gallery 206! Surrounded by the craft tents in the park

Us in Flux and Darren Waterston

2011-05-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

I paid an 11th hour trip to Greg Kucera and Lawrimore Project to check out the Us in Flux and the Darren Waterston shows. I've been interested in Waterston's work ever since I saw the cover of the first Silversun Pickups full-length, one of the few times I've been turned onto an artist by seeing their work on a record cover (Stanley Donwood being another that comes to mind). Waterston is one of those guys who has used some similar abstract techniques to some of the things I have done, and frankly, I wanted to see what he was up to so I could steal from him. I was surprised to see that he had incorporated a bunch of animal imagery into his work.

Well, turns out that before he was doing these non-representational works that I was more familiar with, he had used a lot of iconic imagery in his work, some of it animal form, so in a sense, he was returning to some older material. To me, though, it felt like he might have been embracing current trends.

Never-the-less, interesting to take a look at them. The way he painted the animals was excellent, I'm just not so sure they belonged in the environments he placed them in.

Also, it was the last day for the Us in Flux show - an exhibition of artists doing takes on jewelry that was a a lot more stronger than I expected - some of the artists really created some interesting pieces, I particularly enjoyed Robert Longyear and Celia Braga's works, although I wish Celia's weren't hanging from the light tracks. The show was mostly in the back at Kucera, with an installation by Iris Eichenberg over at Lawrimore Project (I swung by, but had to gaze through the window)

Slightly fuzzy pics of Robert Longyear's creations. They now are reminding me of Batteries Not Included, but that's not a fair comparison.

I didn't really get very strong pics of this show at all.

A ghostly tiger painting by Darren Waterston.

Darren really painted the hell out of that bird, but in that space, I was way more into the rock shapes the bird was posed on. Why always with the animals? Of course, I just did the same thing with some of my latest works so who am I to talk.

Lawrimore Project - installation by Isis Eichenberg

Cory Arcangel's One-Liner or Everything new I learn comes from the New Yorker

2011-05-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Instead of the usual obligatory return to the blog you can have this link http://sorry.coryarcangel.com/

Art(is)voxpopuli (art for the people!)

2011-02-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

Dozens of articles in the last decade or so have delved into the subject of whether or not anyone reads on the internet anymore. Do people just skim? Look for pictures, porn and cat antics? Surely someone is reading all those long blogs and news articles out there, right? We don't all have to resort to 5 sentence twitter language posts do we? Is that the new attention span of 'Merica?

Heightened, it may well be, in the art scene? With all the art blogs out there, with the barrage of imagery, pictures, etc especially on Facespace and such, does anyone bother to read any articles about art front-to-back? Or are we all just looking to see if any cool names are mentioned and such....

Sharon Arnold is working to stop that attitude. She has created website for writing about art that anyone can submit to called art(is)voxpopuli. Here's her premise: "I have a writing assignment for each and every one of you: Go see art, write something about it, and send it to me." Anyone can write any old damn thing they want to about art. You don't have to be an artist, a writer, a curator, a historian, or any thing like that. You don't even have to like art. You just have to see a piece of art, and write about it.

Personally, I love writing about art, especially when I can be very informal and essentially do a soapbox rant.

And I think more people should do the same - and art(is)voxpopuli is a great place to start!

Check out this piece I sent Sharon about animal imagery in local art "Kill Shot"

And go out there and get writing people!

MOLORAZZI - February 2011 BLITZ ATTACK

2011-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

Last night I hit up my 3 favorite galleries on Capitol Hill, The Living Room, Ghost Gallery, and Vermillion, to see the 3 exciting exhibitions that opened - here's the images I got:

Klara Glosova's Hot n' Cool and Bittersweet at The Living Room

Klara made so many popsicles, this show was delightful! Popsicles with real chocolate on them, popsicles with felt covers, popsicles elegantly painted/glazed...just dozens of them in every hidden corner and crevice at The Living Room!

And a video animation of a clothed popsicle in the wind....

Artist Saya Moriyasu and Jeffrey heading to the Living Room

Architect Sarah Durkee and artist/animator Laura Dean outside of The Living Room

Artist/mobile gallerist Todd Jannausch (caught in an awkward moment) and Klara Glosova

Curator/artist Amanda Manitach and artist/musician/culinary genius Damon Mori

Then I headed up to Greg Boudreau's show at Ghost Gallery:

Artist Zoe Williams, artist/curator Cait Willis, dancer Brittany S, and artist Greg Boudreau, at Greg's show

Some of Greg's amazing work

Detail, showing some of the stencil technique used in Greg's work

Art lovers Lauri and Jared at the show

Musician Brian Cervino and filmmaker Matthew Witschonke at Greg's show

And finally, I headed up to Vermillion to check out the work by Karen Hackenberg and Eddie Radar
Karen does work referencing environmental degradation, with a whimsical twist. These images do not do justice to her use of gouache.

In addition to the paintings, Karen has also made these delightful sculptures with tiny figures and matches, I really enjoyed these works a great deal!

These star shapes are formed with parts from beach-washed up fireworks

One of the paintings by Eddie Radar, who has a kick ass artist name!

Gerry Judah

2011-02-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Gerry Judah is the kind of artist I want to grow up to be - just look at these "paintings" and then take a look at this huge sculpture/installation he did below, and then go to his website. I'm blown away, thanks to Bette Burgoyne for turning me onto his work.

Wonderful apocalyptic, abstract sculptural paintings...I may be in love. They come in white, black and kind of a burgundy (that i've seen). And then he does work like this:

Yes, this is REAL. Check out his website for more amazing work.

SBC vs PDL: Space Lego Showdown: Vermillion Gallery

2011-01-29T17:36:00.000-08:00

Friday night marked the first ever artist Lego competition I have seen - all 6 members of the rival art trios SBC (John Sutton, Ben Beres and Zac Culler) and PDL (Jason Puccinelli, Jed Dunkerley and Greg Lundgren) faced off in a lego spaceship building challenge smackdown. This was an event heralded with the bravado and trash-talking of Monday Night Raw (that's the weekly pro wresting event to those of you who are not pre-adolescent boys and/or named Kathy). It even received local news coverage, truly a rare thing for any art show in this town!

Each artist made 6 spaceships, and the public was invited to vote on the anonymous entries. The trio with the most votes at the end winning bragging rights until their next smack down.

I guessed that this spaceship with the docking station must have been done by the nerdiest of the 6 artists, who happened to be Greg. I'm just saying.

This was perhaps the strangest competition...when I was looking at it, Ben Beres' dad recounted painful memories of stepping on Lego pieces in the middle of the night. There is nothing quite like that feeling is there?

I believe Jed D was responsible for this one, I gave it my vote for the alternative wing shape designs.

The most mammoth of all the entries, created by Zac (not the infamous Lego Maniac)

John Sutton's ship featured a removable vehicle in the back.

Jason's snack show space station won the most individual votes.

For the record, I would have made a way cooler spaceship than any of these.

Molorazzi hits January BLITZ + Mandy Greer

2011-01-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Thursday night brought another excellent batch of shows on the hill and the Molorazzi was out! Once again, I ended up shooting more pics of art than people, but hey, as Bobby Brown says, it's my prerogative. So here's some pics:

Here we have a couple of dark, poor shots of Julie Alpert's installation at The Living Room, called Motivation Graph. I really enjoy these simple, clean watercolors Julie is doing - they create an interesting dialog with her more involved installation pieces (if you are familiar with her work). Good stuff, I look forward to seeing them in daylight.

After hanging out at Julies show, we headed up to Ghost Gallery to see Ecotone:

This installation by Mary Elise Bolam, Bucks I have Fucked, is sensational.

Each of the t-shirts in hand sewn in the chest hair patterns of past "suitors" (suitors being the term sewn on each label, e.g. "Suitor 7") Fantastic! One of the shirts even has the suitor's tattoos sewn on as well.

Michael Alm next to his sculpture. There is something very frightening about this piece. Unnerving. This is good.

Jody Joldersma's paintings brought a lot of creepy humor to the show.

This is a terrible photo of the feather pattern work by Jess Rees. It does not do justice to this work at all. Jess is going in an interesting direction here, I'm curious to see where it leads her...

And finally, we have one of the landscapes by Joey Bates. A hand burned! (thank you for the correction Michael!) piece on raw wood, also, I did not get good lighting, sorry Joey! Nice work though!

Michael Alm and artist Kendal Tull-Esterbrook

Artist Jess Rees sans glasses

After Ecotone, I went to check out Jesse Higman doing live painting at Vermillion at his show Illuvium
but got there too late, so I checked out a couple of the open art studios on the block and headed to the Unicorn! Oh, and caught some live painting at the Artifakt DJ/Art show in The Loft...and yes, the live painting was occurring on the naked torsos of 2 attractive women. I do not have any pictures of this, sorry.

an then, on Friday:

MANDY GREER AT Roq la Rue

I caught Mandy's excellent show at Roq la Rue, she hit another one out of the park! Check here for a previous post on Mandys BAM show a couple years back. I forgot to bring my good camera to this show, so all i got was a few lousy cell phone pics of her amazing mirror walled room installation with the gold chandelier in the middle. This show is effing great, everyone should go see it. Mandy continues to churn out some of the strongest work in Seattle.

Winter at Season Gallery

2011-01-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

Robert Yoder's house gallery, Season continues to impress. I headed up there on snow-flurry filled Sunday (fitting, for the winter exhibition) to check out the show, I am here, mo fo!, featuring work by Philip Miner and Ruth van Beek. The majority of the work was hung together, in a large wall installation in the main gallery (aka living room). A fire was roaring and champagne was flowing, the opening reception felt like a festive afternoon gathering of art enthusiasts, which, in fact, it was.

Installation of works by Philip Miner and Ruth van Beek

These days artists often talk about and question whether or not the gallery system is still a viable option. It's great to see a home gallery by an artist, showcasing seasonal shows and maintaining a stable of artist's work for sale. The bedroom is the spot to be to view portfolios of past Season artists like Natalie Hausler. There is a lot of impressive work and talent represented up in Ravenna. Check it out.

Season gallery artist portfolios displayed on the master bed.

MOLORAZZI - First Thursday Art Walk ATTACK

2011-01-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, I only took a few photos, and mostly of art work and not people, so this is hardly a traditional MOLORAZZI photo post, sorry everyone. But it was a good art walk night! I enjoyed the work of Jeffrey Simmons at Greg Kucera, Victoria Haven's "No Fun" piece at Kucera, Carolina Silva at Lawrimore Project, and Evan Blackwell's cut-up frame sculptures at Foster White. The new CORE gallery looks very promising and the show at SOIL was a lot of fun. I kind of want to go back there and see if I can completely cover that hummer with white chalk.

Evan Blackwell at Foster/White

More Blackwell

Carolina Silva at Lawrimore Project

Notice the small stream of sand falling from the ceiling? That will continue for the duration of the exhibition, I'm very curious to see how it piles up on the desk and chair...

Scott Trimble at SOIL. You too can draw on this car! I don't know if they will let you bring your own chalk, and I'm not suggesting that anyone bring some different colors...but.....

The Flood is over

2011-01-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well, my show Flood at Gallery4Culture closed last week. It was a blast, I was very happy with how the show was received and very grateful for all those who were able to go see the exhibition. I will be hanging some of the pieces, along with several even newer works, at a solo exhibition at Vermillion gallery in March.

If you missed the G4C show, be sure to check out Vermillion in March. Meanwhile, here is a bunch of installation shots from the show-

Jesse Higman: Illuvium

2010-12-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

Spiral - Jesse Higman

Despite having seen Jesse Higman's show, Illuvium, at Vermillion three times I have been reluctant to write about the work. Perhaps because some folks have already covered his work and process so well (Evening Magazine, Joey Veltkamp) and the fact that I've been worn out after hanging my own December exhibition.

But it's also intimidating to write about an artist of Higman's talents who has had to develop an entire new way of creating work after the accident that resulted in a loss of limb function.

-let me stop myself here -

Oh so easy is to fill up a review of Higman's work with stories of overcoming tragedy, fighting obstacles, and the like While Higman pushes his talents to the limits and works hard - this work really isn't about any of that cliched crap. He was an artist before the accident and continues to be one after. And he has created some interesting pieces.

The works are strange things - there certainly is a graphic quality that reminds me of some of the rock album cover type imagery he's famous for (see: every Grunge band). There's a primal organic look about them. Abstract shapes have the look of nebulas or electron microscope images. At times it seems like Higman purposefully took pictures towards specific forms, like in Spiral (pictured above) or Pheonix, which looks like the the flaming mouth of a Pheonix, but these have have just been accidents. It really doesn't seem to matter what you see in the work, it's the composition, colors, and movement that tell the stories. And the fascinating texture - the metallic flakey paint that Higman uses has a kind of sparkly look to it on some works, and a matte almost chalky look on others. I like the chalky pieces the best, the paint has a look of gouache.

The show at Vermillion features one of Higman's specially designed tables he works on in his studio with complicated levers and such he can essentially move the painting, angle it any which way he needs to get the water based paint flowing the way he wants. One can not help but be reminded of another northwest painter, who also had a significant accident that changed how he painted - Chuck Close. Close cut holes in his studio floor and had a massive crank system so he could easily move his large paintings up and down, as he worked on them. A great artist will find a way.

Illuvium will be on display through January 30th at Vermillion. Check it out.

Top 5 drawings from The Portrait Challenge at SAM (so far)

2010-12-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

The Portrait Challenge has been installed and active at the Seattle Art Museum, in the Think Tank space at the top of the old stairs (where the camel is) since late September, have you seen it? Here are my top 5 favorite completed drawings thus far:

Molo's Top 10 songs of 2010

2010-12-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

These are the top 10 new songs that got stuck in my head in 2010. I figure that makes 'em the best.

#10 Fuck You - Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer I suspect everyone's heard this brazen song by now, but if now, check it out.

#9 Home - Villagers - Becoming A Jackal I was very charmed by hearing this young singer-songwriter perform "Home" live.

#8 Ambling Alp - Yeasayer - Odd Blood This track is the archetype of infectious young indie rock. Its great but after a while it will drive you mad.

#7 Best Friend - The Drums - The Drums This one is for Jared. Hard not to love this band if you like English pop beach rock that sounds like it was made in 1983.

#6 I Don't Know What To Say - The Magnetic Fields - Realism Only the Magnetic Fields can make lines like "I could say I want you, that would be a bore, maybe in a font you haven't seen before" and "I could try and shove you off the nearest cliff..." "I could say   sound so sincerely beautiful.

#5 Alley Cats - Hot Chip - One Life Stand Great song from a great album.

#4 Runaway - Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy "Let's give a toast to the douche-bags"

#3 I Can Change - LCD Sound System - This Is Happening "Drunk Girls" may have been a hella good single, but I prefer LCD's more beautiful sensitive songs like this lovely one.

#2 Cave-O-Sapien - Wolf Parade - Expo 86 This song may be pure nonsense but my god, it is so damn fun! ("I had a vision, of a Gorilla, he was a killer, a killer...")

#1: Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell - Das Racist's - Shut Up Dude! Mixtape

I don't see you here dog?!

Why I haven't been Blogging

2010-11-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

Exclusive new early pics from the installation of my show Flood at Gallery4Culture - enjoy and come to the reception this Thursday, Dec 2nd 6-8pm. (keep in mind these are quick snap shots and come see the show in person!!!)

MOLORAZZI IS BACK! November BLITZ art walk ATTACK

2010-11-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

That's right, the Molorazzi went out for Blitz last Thursday and some some great art and had quite a night! Thanks to all my friends for making it a fun night!

Here are some Molorazzi pics - I did a very bad job of documenting all the interesting stops and hardly shot any pics of art work, so basically it was a typical Molorazzi outing.

Artist Jess Rees by her feather drawings at Veloria

Curator/artist Amanda Manitach and artist Kimberely Trowbridge at Kimberely's show at The Living Room (you were right about the devil eyes Kimberely, sorry!!!)

Jim Demetre at The Living Room

Artist Zoe Williams at her solo show at Ghost Gallery! Congrats Zoe on a handsome and successful show!

Artists Amber Anderson and Michele Anderst at Ghost Gallery

Is that Leonard?

Artists and friends at Local 1520 (above the old Grey Gallery)

Artist Greg Boudreau

Artist Roy Powell in front of some of his car paintings

Artist John Osgood getting down low at The Loft Gallery Artifakt art show

Brian Cypher, Amanda and Damon at Penetration at Unicorn!

SNEAK PREVIEW

2010-11-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

You have probably been wonder, crying - why hasn't Molo been bloggin?!! Well, I've been busy holed up in the studio working on my show Flood at Gallery4Culture. That's right, I'm blaming my lack of blogging on creating art! You can't argue with that!

I am very excited for this exhibition - this show results from several ideas and directions I have been exploring over the last couple years. It is the cumulation of a lot of thinking and work. But enough on that for now...

Flood opens Dec 2nd, with a reception from 6-8pm. Show runs Dec 2nd-31st. Head over to their website for hours/address. I will be sending out an official press release via my email list, and also, stay tuned for some proper writing on the creation of this show, via the City Arts Blog. Until then, here are a few preview pics of some of the major works in the show -

Flood 2, 30" x 34" oil and graphite on panel, 2010

Flood, 34" x 90", oil and graphite on panel, 2010

Cut Bank, 34" x 30", oil on panel, 2010

Blue Scholars, Brother Ali and the City Arts Fest

2010-10-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all. In case you haven't heard, I'm going to see like 7 events at the City Arts Fest and I will be bringing you and the world live coverage on my brand spankin' new Twitter here. You should like totally folly me, yah dig? I know you can't resist witty language like that. (see: sarcasm) Seriously, though, check it out. I'm a tweet newbie, so please bear with me.

Meanwhile, here are 2 pics from the excellent Blue Scholars and Brother Ali show. I won't go into too many details about the show at this time, other than to say that it was great to see such an energetic hip hop show at the Paramount and a huge, enthusiastic crowd! Brother Ali was the shit. Oh, and check out the City Arts Fest Pool for far better pictures than these.

A comprehensive guide to this year's art donations (by me)

2010-10-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

83 Place for Artist Trust

And you have already seen these two works on my blog but here they are again:

94 Place for Kirkland Art Center (Redux Studio Challenge)

and 95 Place for SOIL!

I love all of these arts organizations and I hope that the donated works have helped to support them for the coming year!

The Portrait Challenge at Seattle Art Museum

2010-10-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I'm pleased to announce, that for the duration of the Picasso show (through February 13th) The Portrait Challenge will be in the Seattle Art Museum's Think Tank space!
The installation features hundreds of new model pics for the public to draw; including celebrities like Lebron James, Clint Eastwood, Tracy Morgan, and of course, Lady Gaga.
There will be tables, chairs, pencils, pens and clip boards for your drawing pleasure! The Portrait Challenge will continue to be updated on the flickr page and you can check it out on Facebook.

So take a break from Picasso and swing by The Portrait Challenge. The show is located at the top of the Grand Staircase, in the Think Tank space.

Also, I will be on hand on a few select days to take new model pictures! Stop by and Become the Model! Have you ever wanted to be a model? Now's your chance! Stop by and become the Model this Saturday for SAM's Community Day or come in November for SAM Remix (Nov 13th).

Even if you don't everyone to be drawing your visage, swing by and say hello!

Keep creating!

Here are some installation photos (more to come of the events):

Matthew Witschonke and Jenny Jenkins showing at the Baby Seal Club

2010-10-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last night Matthew Witschonke and Jenny Jenkins installed their exhibition in the gallery right outside of the Baby Seal Club. While Matthew is primarily a video artists (I did not get any images of his video work) he also is hanging delightful drawings, which he said were a family portrait! Jenny installed several large canvases which photos do not do justice (far too lush and too much texture to be picked up with my camera) and a series of b/w prints about a happy plastic couple.

Here are some images I snapped last night-

drawing by Matthew Witschonke

Photo Installation by Jenny Jenkins

I really enjoy Matthew's text in his pictures; it reminds me of the website unhappy hipsters

More work by Jenkins

Stop by tonight and see the work in person - 6-10pm. tonight, at the Baby Seal Club, 619 Western Building. 3rd floor south.

"EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL BE SURE TO TELL THEM"

2010-09-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Table drawings from The Portrait Challenge at Bumbershoot.

Pigs and pics

2010-09-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

Molorazzi was out, briefly, for the opening of Photo Alchemy at Vermillion and Amanda Manitach's This Little Pig Went to Market. I very much enjoyed those gold flecked pig heads, and the photo show in Vermillion, featuring strong works by Erin Shafkind, Dan Hawkins, Ted Grudowski, Daniel Carrillo, Larry Larson, and Bailey Russell. I didn't get too many pics, but here's a few Molorazzi shots -

We have a bar! And great art.

one of Erin Shafkind's lazer-cut photos. Very lovely.

Photography Dan Hawkins and Artist Troy Gua next to Dan's shot of an abandoned uranium mine in WA.

Detail of Amanda Manitach's piece This Little Pig Went To Market

Gallery 40 is always full of surprises! I would have loved to see this piece in the snow, to really tie in to the photo...

The Portrait Challenge Press, Blogs, and Video

2010-09-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to see The Portrait Challenge showing up in so many blogs, press, etc. I'm only somewhat happy to see my mug show up in videos....

Here's links to a selection of items (more are coming in all the time):

VIDEO:
City Arts Blog
Pangeality

BLOGS:
Randomville
Best Of
Ireland's King
City Arts Blog (look for all 3 posts on this subject by on the CAB),
Seattle Met Magazine (in the slideshow)
Carol Tompkins
Seattle Weekly
Neil Davidson
Jacquiescence
Speak & Bherd
another Seattle Weekly

Vito's Grand Opening this Thursday

2010-09-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

Follow up to my blog post back in April....

I'm sure you all have heard by now, but Jeff Scott and Greg Lundgren are finished with the Vito's remodel and the grand opening is this Thursday, September 16th!

I was lucky to be able to sneak in yesterday for a quick little soft test run of the place and it looks GREAT! The bar is lovely, and bar manager Justin has hired a great crew. Jeff and Greg were on hand to say hello. The whole staff looked excited and rearing to go. Chef Bruno (formally from Tango Tapas) has put together what looks like a great meal; I tried the Calamari appetizer which was enjoyable. I'm excited to head back and have a proper meal, plus with things on the lounge menu like a Philly Cheese steak sandwich and pulled-pork sliders along with all the more traditional Italian style fare, well it just all looks really tasty.

The mural that Warren Dykeman's 35' mural gives Vito's a hipness but does not take away from the classy lounge feel of the place. The grand piano is shiny and just looking for some sexy lady to be laying across it...check out the website for all the scheduled acts!. .I suspect a giant brandy glass show up on it soon. The whole place just seems to be coming together perfectly! Plus the men's room still has ice in the urinals.

Props to Jeff, Greg, Justin and Bruno for pulling it all together, it was fun to watch this project take shape over the last few months. There is finally another restaurant on First Hill other than the Sorrento Hotel, and this one still has that lovely mural in the bathroom!

(sorry no photos)

MOLORAZZI at BLITZ - September Edition

2010-09-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I joined Joey Veltkamp and Troy Gua as judges for the City Arts Art Walk Awards on a whirlwind tour of all the art we could find on Capitol Hill. It was a blast! Joey recapped the night very nicely on his blog, Best of, here - check it out. Despite being seriously involved judging art, I was able to snap some MOLORAZZI shots!

Here ya go:

Joey and Troy!

Artist Kimberly Trowbridge and Todd Jannausch (Gallery 40 Owner) setting up Kimberely's show

Curater Amanda Manitach

Jason Hirata shinning a lazer on himself

this one is for Erin Shafkind

We swung by Canoe Social Club - they had drawing from their figure drawing sessions on display

A detail of one of City Arts Art Walk Award Winner Andy Reynold's photos

Cait Willis and Joey, and some petite works! At Ghost Gallery

Hard core musicians Brian Cervino and Jess Rees

Kimberely's lovely installation.

Bond and Lauren

Artists Robert Hardgrave, Troy Gua, and Kimberely Trowbridge

Macho Man Randy Savage, as painted by Justin Kane Elder

Justin next to his painting "Dick"

Penetration time!

Oh it's going to be that kind of night, is it?

A love letter to Robert Rodriguez

2010-09-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Robert,

Thank you so much for making Machete and saving this woefully disappointing summer of would-be action films. Thank you for doing what Stallone tried to do, but failed, with The Expendables - making a fun, silly, bloody, amazingly over the top, campy and sexy action movie. Sure, Machete stalls on occasion between action and "love" scenes, but it always revs back up with a new surprising character or crazy scenario (like the hospital sequence??!!) ! Thank you for casting Steven Seagal, and for writing the line "This, this aint nothin'" [gestures to the giant knife in his torso] "i could kill you so easy right now"... and all the other choice bits!

Machete is everything the adolescent boy in me wants from a movie, (including Lindsay Lohan, topless). 4 Molos!

Thank you so much Robert,

-Ryan Gifford Molenkamp

PS I can't wait for the sequels, Machete Kills and Machete Kills Again!

MOLORAZZI at FIRST THURSDAY - September 2010

2010-09-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a bunch of photos I managed to snap in my quick tour of shows on Thursday. Enjoy!

Artist Randy Wood inspecting Nola Avienne's work

Artists Gretchen Bennett and Margie Livingston are only kind of okay with having their photo taken by the Molorazzi. But that's what the MOLORAZZI does! Makes ya uncomfortable!

Jennifer Zwick's Self-Portrait as an Effing Cheetah She rocks!

More Zwick images. Preggers belly.

Painting by Maija Fiebig at G. Gibson Gallery

Saya Moriyasu

Saya's work needs to be appreciated in person

Tim Bavington's show at Greg Kucera was oddly underwhelming in person. They seem to look better in reproduction. Strange. Maybe the Kenneth Noland/Morris Louis references hang to heavy.

Lynn Yamamoto I enjoyed much more (also at Kucera)

Scott Lawrimore (on the right) outside of his new project space at 117 Main

Isaac Layman's project and Catalogs above.

Ball Point Ink Spill

2010-09-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Margot "Bird" Peterson is putting together a little zine that will be composed of ball point pen drawings that are a response to the oil spill in the gulf. I had a little bit of time while sitting at press preview for The Portrait Challenge and was able to get this little drawing done for the project. Ball point pen is not my medium of choice, but I still enjoyed making this drawing.

Deleted Scenes from The Expendables

2010-08-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Instead of giving you a rousing review of this "film", I am going to provide you all with all the deleted scenes that will be on the Special Edition DVD, as reported to me by a friend:

"You know, it's hard to cut even one scene, let alone four... I feel, as a filmmaker, like I had, you know... four abortions."
--Sylvester Stallone, from The Expendables Special Edition DVD

DELETED SCENE #1: THE CHURCH

Stallone and Willis are confronted by a priest.

PRIEST: "Have you come here for forgiveness?"

Willis spins around and fires a bullet into the priest's forehead (the only use of a muzzle silencer in the entire film).

WILLIS: "It's a little too late for that, padre."

DELETED SCENE #2: THE FIX

Lundgren is shooting heroin as his dealer, played by Samuel L. Jackson, finishes a bottle of beer.
Jackson hands the empty bottle to Lundgren.

JACKSON: "Do that trick you showed me the last time."

Lundgren, barely focusing in his smack haze, accepts the bottle.
Lundgren proceeds to eat the bottle. Afterward, blood pouring from his lacerated mouth, he hiccups.

JACKSON: "Damn."

A wet, flatulant sound eminates from Lundgren, who giggles. Jackson frowns, sniffing the air.

JACKSON: "What the...? Did you just shit cho muthafuckin' pants?! Holy fucking shit, Gunner!! What the fuck is wrong witchoo?!"

DELETED SCENE #3: BRIDGE GIRL

Rourke waits in the blue light, in his tear-filled reverie, for Stallone to leave the shop. Then he stands, slowly removes his shirt, and picks up a hand mirror. On the back of the mirror is a sticker reading "EXPENDABLES." Shot of this sticker is held for eleven seconds. Then Rourke slowly turns his back to a large mirror on the wall, and uses the smaller mirror to ponder a tattoo on his back. The tattoo is huge, black ink, photorealistic... depicts a beautiful, chesty Croat girl in a summer dress, about to fling herself from a river bridge. Her expression is one of incalculable pain, yet in her eyes there's still the tiniest spark of hope, as though she dares fate to grant her salvation at the last possible instant.

ROURKE [whispering]: "I'll never forget you, Bridge Girl."

DELETED SCENE #4: THE BOY

The truck of soldiers chases after Statham & Stallone. As it roars through the capital, a peasant boy hurls a piece of fruit after the soldiers in a display of resistance [this scene made the final cut].

However...

The soldiers' truck skids to a halt, backs up, and the pair of soldiers next to the tailgate empty their automatic rifle magazines into the youthful Che, reducing his body to a spasming pile of lasagna.
Then it's back into gear, and on with the chase!

I'm also guessing there'll be an interview with the actress who played Sandra, the General's Daughter, vis-a-vis the compelling waterboarding scene. She might, I don't know, say...

"Tha scene woss so powerful, yes? We have shot it manny, manny times, ahntell Meester Stallone he say is just right. Then I see how ees come out, and I'm like, wow! How doze he do it? They rope... they writhing... they water ees beading up on my firm, round, tanned, heaving breasts... so passionate. Almose... sensual?"

One new painting, one new review, and a bunch of work on the Portrait Challenge show

2010-08-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

I've been really busy getting materials ready for the Portrait Challenge at Bumbershoot, and haven't been keeping up with my blog, but I did have time to write a bit about Kate Tucker's show last week on the CAB here. And I just managed to finish a work for the Kirkland Arts Center Redux Studio Challenge. The theme was "architecture" which is a reoccurring theme in my work, which made that aspect relatively easy. Well, relatively easy once I gave up on my initial idea (long story) and just decided to devote one of my last works in the Place series to this project.

So, here it is, 95 Place -

The KAC Redux show is in October and preliminary details are to be found on their website.

The rest of my days have been devoted to Portrait Challenge preparation stuff like this:

Drawing by Sharon Arnold

making buttons is hard!

testing backdrops for the "become the model" section of the Portrait Challenge show

The front side of the postcard for the show! Draw in the blank square and mail it!

Molorazzi at BLITZ August 2010

2010-08-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

Check out my thought and some better pics over at my post on the CAB here.

Meanwhile, here's a couple other pics!

BOOM

Andie DeRoux in front of her work at Ghost Gallery

Artist Greg Boudreau and Brittany in Greg's studio with a coloring contest happening in the background

Artists Julie Alpert and Laura Dean and a couple tall boys

Evan Blackwell's wall scluptures

Gretchen Bennett

Joey Veltkamp and crane

Jason Puccinelli makes first contact

"CAVE-O-SAPIAN" - best rock song of 2010!

2010-08-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

ROCK IS GOOD AGAIN

I have never really been much of a Wolf Parade fan. I enjoyed their first acclaimed release, Apologies to the Queen Mary, but I didn't really get too much from it. It felt like there were going for a raw, kind of early Modest Mouse-rough but poppy-vibe and trying too hard. The had an unsettled sound, an unsure sound. It didn't help any that they took an animal name like every other mid '00s indie rock band. Subsequently I never checked out their second album. But for some reason, the other day I decided to pick up a copy Expo '86 and boy am I glad I did!

Wolf Parade has released one of the best rock albums I've heard in years. Poppy, energetic, clever, and delightful. Driving melodies, super tight drumming, and clean guitars guide these songs. The damn thing hooked me from the start. You can certainly hear bits of other rock titans in the music, but they own this album. The difference is they homage and building on the music and the past.

The songs on this release are top-to bottom excellent! It's the kind of album that any given track could get stuck in your head. I haven't been so enamored immediately by a release in a long time. The highlight, though, has got to be the closing track "Cave-O-Sapien". That song overcomes it's silly title (and lyrics) to be one of the best rock songs I've heard in a while. Damn if there isn't some "oh oh oh oh ooohs" and such on it! Great stuff 4.5 Molos!

Everyone has been waiting for the new Arcade Fire to come out; well it's here and it's really good. The Suburbs. Arcade Fire is a great band, one of the best live bands of the decade, and you have to see them if you have not.

I doubt they will ever write an album as ground-breaking and universally loved as Funeral (nor should they try). The Suburbs is not attempting to be another Funeral. It feels like the next chapter in the story, though, especially lyrically. More mature? Yes. And the tracks are more consistent front to back than either of their first 2 albums - there are no duds on The Suburbs.

That being said, there's something missing - this album is excellent, but it feels too easy. There is beauty and some great songs. But maybe they are just almost too good for their own good. That doesn't make sense, and I don't have time to elaborate on it...but maybe this album is just one more strong step on some kind of amazing musical journey. If any contemporary band can take us on such a journey, The Arcade Fire is the one. 4 Molos

School of Seven Bells released an album Disconnect from Desire a couple weeks ago that might be in danger of getting ignored in the wave of Arcade Fire love, but I hope that is not the case. I love this band! But it's not the kind of music you can listen to all the time, there's a lot of repetitiveness in their music, heightened by the twin Deheza sister's lovely harmonizing - really all they music is built around the vocals, to create stunning atmosphere. Disconnect is a stronger, more diverse and better-written follow up to the very good Alpinisms and in spots it moves their sound a little further away from the shoegazer to pop to good effect. You should check it out!. By the way, Wikipedia says their name comes from "a mythical South American pickpocket training academy" 3.5 Molos

Morris Graves as Muse; I prefer Xanadu

2010-08-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight, opening in 3 spaces in the Tashiro Kaplan Building- Rock DeMent, Angle and Corridor, is an exhibition called the Mystic Sons of Morris Graves, organized by the "secret society" of sorts of the same name, which started back in '91 by Charles Kraft and others. According to the Rock DeMent statement the show features actual objects and work from Morris himself, and works by not only the PNW old guard artists (with respect) but many heavy hitters from the art world:

Chris Crites, Charles Krafft, Stephen Rock, Tony Bennet, Ries Niemi, George Condo, Kelly Lyles, Peter Santino, Matthew Barney, Stan Lee, David C, Kane, Susan Rothenberg, Eric Nelson, Mya Lin, Don Ed Hardy, John Ohanessian, Grace Slick, Matthew Kangas, Charlie Manson, Larry Reid...and more

Susan Rothenberg? Mya Lin, George Condo?? and Matthew Barney? Really? Wait, Charlie Manson? As in Charles Manson? Looks like it. What a coup!

Also exhibiting are a host of emerging and professional local artists like Troy Gua, Kate Protage, Chris Sheridan, and many others.

This show is getting a lot of attention; people are writing about this show (see Regina's post here because). Morris Graves is one of the few home-grown legends of any note from the 20th Century, and he deserves to be celebrated. I'm certainly curious to see the show and what sorts of works will be on display, especially from such an impressive list of artists...

My first impression upon hearing about the exhibition was that it was fostering the implication that all of us local emerging artists are "sons of Morris Graves" but once I learned a little more about it, I see it's really just a celebration of a mythic artist, for fun and to keep his legend alive.

Let's take that for what it is, a big, rambling love fest for one of the few local 20th century artists to gain national attention.

Never-the-less it got me thinking a little bit. (dangerous I know!) I feared this was another exhibition that centered around the idea that the NW school was the last big thing to happen to art around here (outside of Chihuly) and we'd never get past it, we'd never finally be looking strongly at all the amazing contemporary work happening out here.

I'm reminded of when I saw the writer Colsen Whitehead read, and he talked about how he the generation of writers/literary folks just above him were all still fixated on things like the Vietnam War, Woodstock , hippie culture, summer of love and all the events of the late 60s and that it was hard to break up that whole scene-that it was time for new writers and new subjects to be more prominent. But that older generation still had all the power. When I hear about people loving and celebrating things like the old and mostly deceased Northwest school artists I just keep thinking, when will they start paying attention to the new work out there? When the new guard get a real shot?

But hey, I was making mountains out of molehills. It is just a show and it will showcase a lot of emerging talent and maybe some folks will create some interesting takes on the subject. Who knows...

If nothing else we might get an answer this burning question:

Is Morris Graves responsible for all the bird imagery in Northwest art?

If Morris Graves as muse is not your thing, you can skate over to SOIL and check out the Xanadu show instead for far more sexy musings.

Brief Sunday Art Walk

2010-08-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

It's a lot harder to go see art on Sunday in Pioneer Square than it used to be, as a lot of galleries have decided to close on Sundays. I still saw a couple interesting things, though, check 'em out -

Klara Glosova's skates in the window at SOIL, part of the Xanadu show opening this week.

I have about zero interest in the Picasso show that will be opening at SAM this fall to everyone's delight, but damn if this mural isn't pretty bad ass.

Trevor Johnson's floating sculptures at Zeitgeist

There has been some interesting site-specific sculptural work happening in Occidental Park....

which is always a nice surprise for those of use who travel through that area...makes it easier to ignore all the tourists and the drug dealers/users (which make up about 80% of the Pioneer Square street demographic)

Thank you!

2010-07-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

I want to take this opportunity to thank all my loyal readers over the last couple years. I might not have the readership of say...Jezebel...but I'm proud that I've accumulated 5000+ site visits! In the coming year I hope to increase the frequency of my posting, and develop stronger content. Additionally, thanks for bearing with me as I contribute to the City Arts Blog in addition to Molo's Sketchbook! I know it's a little weird to be directed from here to there at times, but I appreciate everyone who does. I believe that the City Arts Blog (the CAB) has the potential to become a unified and comprehensive online community arts resource more expansive and thorough then anything currently out there for Seattle.

Thanks again, and check out my latest posting on the CAB , about The Off Hours Reading Series.

with respect,

Ryan Molenkamp

CHBP Sunday

2010-07-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Mad Rad and friends

S (Jenn Ghetto) performing on the Vera Stage

Book of Black Earth and a bunch of devil-eyed fans (fitting, no?)

Grand Archives on the Vera stage

Duchess and the Duke, also on the Vera stage

Somewhere in the haze is The Dead Weather

A smaller crowd enjoying the show from the free 76 station viewing area

MOLORAZZI @ Capitol Hill Block Party - Friday night

2010-07-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Damn that will-call line was long! Thankfully I ran into my friend Kara and cut in halfway up. Block Party...wow. I didn't go last year, and I had for gotten how sardine-like the event was. Even with a better layout this year, it was still insanely cramped to try to get up to the main stage at all. Oh well, it's a concert, right? Highlights for me were Shabazz Palaces and Champagne Champagne. I really didn't get much out of seeing Yeasayer or even MGMT live, but then again, by the time MGMT came on, all the kids were freaking out and the crowd felt agressive - so I bailed. Funny thing though, the sound from the 76 station on the back of the stage wasn't half-bad, and completely free. So long as you didn't mind standing next to some cops.

Here's a couple pics from the event -

This is what all the bands looked like till the sun went behind the buildings

Shabazz Palaces! Highlight was Butterfly's purple get-up

Champagne Champagne put on a great show

Everyone was envious of these guys.

"It's like a pretentious version of the Matrix"

2010-07-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

I heard a guy say that to his date as we left the theater after seeing Christopher Nolan's Inception last night and it made me chuckle a bit. With its clean, visual dazzle and dreams inside of dreams where reality can be bent and and morphed with various real-world implications-I'd say he had a good point. But in this film there is no evil terminator machine army to defeat, in fact the only real enemy is the character's own memories.

Okay, I'm going to stop myself here and redirect - by now you've seen the previews, probably read some reviews and decided if you want to go see the movie or not. I say go see it. It's a very smartly done film, even where it falls into familiar territory it still does so with skill and style. The climatic sequence with several overlapping plot lines is worth watching just for the impressive ability of the filmmaker to keep it all going w/out confusing the hell out of the audience.

Unfortunately there ate times when the film is just too focused on it's own beauty and the characters suffer for it. When the occasional humorous moments appear, brought on by Ellen Page's Ariadne and Tom Hardy's Eames, we are reminded that these people are in fact, real, and not the "projections" that habit these dreamscapes. More of that, and less slo-mo and we'd have a great film....

That being said, it's still one of the most imaginative and impressive things I have seen this year, and it beats the hell out of every other summer blockbuster to this point. But no one has set the bar very high this year.

There's always The Expendables.

Inception gets 3.5 Molos

PS SPOILER ALERT: Don't read this if you don't want to learn a little something about the ending.....but one of the most amusing experiences of seeing this film was when at the very end of the film, the movie ends on a highly ambiguous note, very highly, and a guy in the audience yelled out "ahhhhhh come on!" which got the entire crowd laughing. Good stuff.

Hoot Hoot - Joey Veltkamp at The Living Room

2010-07-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in the middle of my vacation I found the time to check out Joey Veltkamp's new show at The Living Room, It is Happening Again, which was very enjoyable and which I wrote about for the CAB. Check it out here, with more pics!

Molorazzi @ Blitz in July

2010-07-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Head over to the City Arts Blog to check out my full report and pics from the Blitz last night! Molorazzi-Blitz-aka-Sweatbox. Here's a couple bonus pics from the night:

Daniel Carillo's installation in Gallery 40

Bad angle of one of Bette Burgoyne's amazing drawings

Is that who I think it is?

Diana Adams in the courtyard at Ghost

Lauren, Amanda and Justin (eyes closed) outside of ACTION.

The End is Near

2010-06-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to end it. Time to move on. I've been working on paintings in my Place series since 2006, and I've now completed 94 paintings in the series, including the 2 most recent ones pictures below. More than any other work I've done, creating the paintings in the Place series taught me what I wanted to do with my work...what I mean is they lead me down the current path that resulted in the San Juan series, and the more recent Flood series I am embarking upon. These works have allowed me to explore directions in style I might otherwise have not approached. They have helped me understand my own interest in landscape, in structure, in, well, place and how I could use painterly techniques and drawing techniques to find interesting ways to illustrate my ideas. And color, or what an exploration in color this series has been! (with a few B/W exceptions). But all good things must come to an end, and once I reach the 100th painting, the Place series will be over.

93 Place, 22 x 28, oil on canvas, 2010 On display at The Hideout starting this week.

94 Place, 28 x 34, oil on canvas, 2010. Showing at my studio during Art Walk July 1st, 619 Western - 3rd floor, South side.

It is a little daunting, and perhaps misguided, to publicly declare the end to a series. In all reality, though, they are not ending. I'm still making work, work that is a bit more illustrative, work that may surprise long-time supporters with more direct representation. Work that will keep focus on structure and certainly maintain some of the link work present in the Place series; but I am shifting. Trying to. It can be scary. I've always gotten pleasure and even some attention for these colorful paintings, and leaving them behind, well, is a bit unnerving. But it must be done. Granted, I'll make colorful paintings again, I'm sure. But I hope, that after the 100th place is complete, that I can put this body to rest and push forward.

Pity, fool

2010-06-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Have I ever told you about the time I met Mr. T in Hawaii when I was 8? It involved getting roped into a private party for Hollywood big wigs and other "important" people...the party had a lady in a mermaid costume, there were various soap opera stars, but I didn't care about all that, because Mr. T was there. BA Baracus himself! The only person I would have been more excited and frightened to meet at that point in my young life would have been Darth Vader. My friend Derek and I were way too scared though, out mothers basically had to drag us over there to meet him.

Check out my City Arts Blog review of the new A-Team movie to read more about it!